Struggling With MS, Laviai Nielsen Opens Up on Why She ‘Almost Wanted to Cry’ at World Indoors

“I was really pushing my body hard.” – once quipped star British runner Laviai Nielsen. This tenet has served her pretty well until now. The Tokyo Olympics has been a great realization of dreams for Laviai Nielsen. With a marvellous performance in her Tokyo debut, notwithstanding her MS prognosis, she is laser focused on bringing her Paris dreams to fruition. Consequently, due to overexertion of her body, Nielsen started to feel something was not right with her body.

Soon after realizing the symptoms, Nielsen was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a lifelong condition that affects not only the nervous system but also the brain. Now, after two years of faltering, Laviai has passed with flying colours. However, she recently opened up on tearing up at a global stage. What was the catalyst that made this sprinting juggernaut bawl her eyes out at the World Indoors?

Laviai Nielsen lets out her clarion call

After two years of being diagnosed with MS, Laviai came up on the tracks to compete against athletes at the 400-meter heat run at the World Indoor Championships in Glasglow. To share the ecstatic moment of triumph as Laviai secured first place at the event, AW took it to their X account and penned, “@Laviai on the feeling of representing GB at the World Indoor Championships and what it means to be team captain.”

Soon after the conclusion of the 400-meter dash, Laviai spoke up with Tim Adam and said, “It is so special. It was like preparing myself for the crowd, like so many people screaming my name, Laviai; it was just so special. I am really soaking this up as they don’t come up quite often these opportunities.“

Relinquishing her disease, the team captain not only felt great as the crowd cheered her, but also focused on living in the moment. She added, “I almost wanted to cry because we take these moments for granted. Always thinking about qualifying, making the team, making it to the start line, but these moments were very lucky to be here.” But behind all these adversities and triumphs, one can’t overlook her stellar performance and we doff our hats to her.

Laviai’s impressive run at World Indoor Championships

Laviai made an impressive start at the World Indoor Championships today. At the 400-meter sprinting event, Laviai portrayed prowess on the field as she completed the showdown first while achieving the first position with 51.82 seconds. In addition to this, she also acquired a spot at the semifinals of the event with her timings. 

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Following the same path, Andrea Miklos completed the sprint at 52.17 seconds to stand in second position, whereas Tereza Petrzilkova, with 53.21, completed third. However, the final 400-meter showdown is yet to commence. Will Laviai be able to overcome intense pressure to secure the world indoors gold this year?

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